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Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Blogging Through the Alphabet: R is for Returning

Wow! We are on Week 18 on Blogging Through the Alphabet! I can't believe I have kept it up this long, but there's no way I'll quit now! We are on the letter "R" this week, and I kept thinking of the word returning.

We will be returning to a family-integrated, Charlotte Mason style of homeschool. When we first started homeschooling some 8 years ago, I used many Charlotte Mason concepts without even realizing it. I had no idea there were different methods of homeschooling; I just did what worked for our family. We read the Bible, did copy-work from the verses we read, and found spelling words in our library books. We drew and colored pictures from our living science books and made lap-books and played games. We spent a lot of time outside enjoying nature. We used real coins to learn how to count money and real objects to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. I gave them writing prompts to finish a story in their journals. And it worked - beautifully.

Somewhere along the way, I became consumed with shiny new curriculum catalogs and perusing curriculum websites and blogs. I had the "grass is greener" mindset when it came to homeschool curriculum. I always wanted to try something new, something shiny, something exciting. When it became dull or boring, I tried something else.

And now I'm returning to what works for us - what feels right for our family. Slowly, I'm introducing Charlotte Mason's methods into home. I'm not doing it all at once, for fear that we will burn out quickly.

I'm not buying much shiny, new curriculum - it's not necessary for the way we will homeschool. {Notice I said much - I did buy a history curriculum for the entire family to use.} We will be using books - real, living books - for spelling, copy-work, and grammar. We will use Notebooking instead of worksheets. We will be implementing more nature study and nature walks. We will be admiring beautiful art and wonderful music from many famous artists and composers. We will be learning handicrafts and trades that will be useful in life - cooking, baking, sewing, woodworking, gardening, pottery, painting, bead-making, and more. We will listen to poetry and memorize scriptures and enjoy our learning. Gentle homeschooling has been on my heart for a long time, and everything about Charlotte Mason's methods embrace this idea.